


Under the Skin

by Riddle_of_the_sphinx



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Creepy Shimura Danzou, Demons, Demons are more like tricksters, Demons love pranks, Dog Demon Inuzuka Kiba, Evil Shimura Danzou, Falling In Love, Families of Choice, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fox Demon Uzumaki Naruto, Foxes, Fūinjutsu is a bit of a pain for demons, Gaara is a Good Friend (Naruto), Good Demons, Good Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi Is Trying, Hatake Kakashi Needs a Hug, Hatake Kakashi is Bad at Feelings, Ichiraku Ramen (Naruto), Idiots in Love, It will take a while for him to hit the protective stage, Kakashi Gaiden, Kakashi is a bit slower on the uptake, Kannabi Bridge Mission, Kiba is just along for the ride, Kushina is not Naruto's mom, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama is Naruto's dad, M/M, Minato is just going to adopt his whole team, Minato is not Naruto's dad, Naruto didn't come here to get attached to a bunch of humans, Naruto falls in love quick, Naruto is Just Naruto, Nice Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Ninken | Ninja Dogs, No One Can Stop Him, Nohara Rin Lives, Parent Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Protective Namikaze Minato, Raven Demon Rock Lee, Shimura Danzou Being an Asshole, Tanuki Demon Gaara, Team Bonding, Team as Family, They sort of adopt him as their son anyway, Third Shinobi War, eventually, he gets attached anyway, in more ways then one, prankster Uzumaki Naruto, ramen brings people together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:42:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23907898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riddle_of_the_sphinx/pseuds/Riddle_of_the_sphinx
Summary: For demons tricking humans is the name of the game. When a demon reaches a certain age they are to undergo an age old tradition. The tradition dictates that the demon must infiltrate a human village and cause as much mischief as they possibly can. They must trick and prank the humans there for a total of three years. If they can pull it off without being captured or caught in the act they will be honored as a demon who has mastered the craft of mischief.For a fox demon named Naruto this trial is the perfect way for him to make his mark on the demon world. What better way to show his worth then by taking his trial in Konohagakure? The only ninja village in the world that no demon has ever been able to complete the trial in. If Naruto can pull it off he would be considered a hero. However, that goal might be harder to achieve then Naruto could ever imagine. The Third Ninja War will make things difficult, and a shadowy group in village would love to get their hands on a demon like him. Also, a team called Team Minato are trying to catch him.Will Naruto achieve his goal of getting under the skin of everyone in Konohagakure, or will Team Minato end up getting under his skin instead?
Relationships: Gaara & Inuzuka Kiba, Gaara & Rock Lee, Gaara & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi & Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi & Nohara Rin & Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba & Uzumaki Naruto, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uzumaki Naruto, Namikaze Minato & Nohara Rin, Namikaze Minato & Team Minato, Namikaze Minato & Uchiha Obito, Namikaze Minato & Uzumaki Naruto, Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina, Nohara Rin & Uzumaki Naruto, Rock Lee & Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee & Maito Gai | Might Guy, Rock Lee & Uzumaki Naruto, Team Minato & Uzumaki Kushina, Team Minato & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Obito & Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Kushina & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 30
Kudos: 114
Collections: Naruto





	Under the Skin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arrveolantrath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arrveolantrath/gifts).



> I'll probably have this posted up on my Fanfiction account under the name Jet Set Radio Yoyo, so you will see this story there as well.

To most humans demons are strange terrifying creatures. Even ninjas thought demons were dangerous and weird which was seriously saying something considering the fact that ninjas could summon talking animals, toss around elemental jutsu attacks, and some ninjas could even shatter solid stone boulders with a single punch. To be fair it was hard to see demons as anything other than dangerous and mysterious. Humanity knew so little about demons, and what little they had seen did little to clear up the mystery. Demons seemed to avoid humans as much as possible. They lived in places that no human ever entered like the deepest darkest depths of the woods that were far away from any sort of human civilization. If demons ever went near humans they were either disguised as animals, or they used illusions to make themselves look human.

No one could see through their disguises. Even most kekkei genkai couldn’t see through their disguise. A ninja’s henge pales in comparison to a demon’s disguise. Fūinjutsu was the only thing that has ever had any luck detecting demons, but there were not very many people out there who were good with seals or knew how to make seals that affected demons in any way. Due to this only a handful of people have ever seen a demon in their true form. According to the few people who had been lucky enough to see a demon in their natural form they looked like humans only they had the tails and ears of an animal, or they had the wings of a bird. The animal traits that demons could take on varied widely. Foxes demons, cat demons, raven demons, coyote demons, dog demons, gray jay demons, and even rabbit demons were just a few of the types of demons that humans had reported seeing. Regardless of what type of demon a person was dealing with they all had one thing in common to humans. 

Demons were tricksters whose only desires were to deceive and hurt humans. 

Any interaction with a demon always ended badly for the human. There were many stories of demons disguising themselves as lost children who would lure travelers who wanted to help the child deep into the woods only to abandon them there causing the traveler who just wanted to become hopelessly lost. Other stories told of how a demon tormented a village for three years just because the village had somehow insulted the demon. The demon would play prank after prank day after day on the citizens in order to drive the people of the village insane. It was only when the demon’s mischief had caused enough chaos in the village did the demon finally leave. 

Some stories told of demons who tricked humans into doing things for them. Sometimes these things would be simple things like asking for food, asking the human to give them something that was important, or they would ask the human to do favor for them. In return the demon would show them something that the human desired. They would offer up valuable jewels that would make any man fabulously wealthy. To those who desired power demons offered up scrolls that were filled with forbidden powerful jutsu, or maybe they would promise to offer up a summoning scroll all while hinting that the scroll would allow the human to summon demons to help them. Greedy humans would readily agree thinking they would get some grand reward in the end. 

Usually, they got nothing great at the end of the deal. The grand treasure they were promised were almost always false. The grand jewels would turn out to be normal rocks that the demons had used their power of illusions on to make them look like precious gems. The scrolls filled with forbidden justu turned out to be empty, or would contain instructions on how to perform a jutsu that any genin would know. The summing scrolls they offered were always fakes that did nothing. The demons would walk away with everything that they wanted while the human would be left with nothing but humiliation.

All of these stories usually had some sort of lesson attached to them. For the one about lost travelers the lesson was that a person should keep their wits about them if they were traveling alone. If something looks fishy or out of place don’t go blindly chasing after it. For the tales about the demons pranking a village for insulting it the lesson was to be careful when interacting with strangers, or to watch what you say. You never know if the stranger you are talking to is a demon in disguise who would have no problem with making your village suffer through a year of pranks of all things just because you insulted them. The stories of trades with demons that ended less than well for the human usually came with their own host of lessons. Don’t make deals with demons ever was usually the number one lesson, but the age old ‘if something sounds too good to be true it probably is’ lesson was usually chucked in there as well.

At any rate most stories involving demons were lighthearted things. They were stories that parents told their children so that they may learn some sort of important lesson. However, humans told other stories about demons. Darker demons that were told to others to warns others about just how dangerous demons were. They told over campfires to scare others almost like ghost stories. They were a grim reminder that for all of the silly stories about demons that existed demons were to be feared. There were many different types of horror stories about demons out there in the world. There were stories of fox demon women who possessed otherworldly beauty seducing young men. When the man would fall under their spell they would spirit the man away never to be seen again.

No one knew what happened to those men who were spirited away, but there were all sorts of theories flying around. Some say that the fox demons would suck the men’s souls right out of them in order to make themselves more powerful. Others said that the demons would take away their youth to keep themselves young and beautiful looking. Some said that the fox demons would just eat the poor humans who had fallen victim to their charm. There were many more theories as to what happened to those men, and all of them were grim and disturbing. 

There were stories of raven demons killing humans who dared to enter any abandoned home or building that they inhabited. People said that the raven demons would eat the humans they killed. Yet, the very worst stories were of the bijuu. They were the strongest demons in all of the Elemental Nations. They were giant demons who could wipe out whole entire ninja armies with a swipe of a hand. Even powerful ninja who were feared by most humans were knocked away like fleas by the mighty bijuu. Those ninja wo thought that they could control or defeat the mighty demon were quickly labeled as insane for thinking they could beat such powerful beasts. There were hundreds of stories of various ninja villages trying to capture the bijuu so that they may control them only to fail. Whole entire armies of ninjas had been sent after the bijuu only to be destroyed. Every major ninja village had at least a few stories of how some of their greatest ninjas had been soundly defeated by a demon hidden away in their history books. The only people who came close to going toe to toe with the bijuu were the seal masters from Uzushiogakure. They were the only ones to go against the bijuu and come back alive and mostly uninjured. They also refused to discuss what happened when they went against the bijuu. 

The most that was ever said about it was when the village’s leader told the second Hokage of the Leaf Village “We reached an agreement. They leave us alone, and we leave them alone. For both of our sakes I suggest you do the same, and that we never speak of this again.”

Most of the villages followed what Uzushiogakure’s lead when it came to the bijuu. Some power hungry people still tried to catch a demon in order to use them for their power, but for the most part humans learned quick to leave demons alone as much as you could. If you leave them alone they will leave you alone, and for the most part that worked out fine. Humanity figured out real fast that demons were strange dangerous creatures that should be avoided at all costs. It was only common sense to humanity to avoid them. 

The thing is demons didn’t exactly want to leave humanity alone. 

Humans were just way too much fun to mess with. 

The thing is most stories that humanity had on demons were either complexity fabricated, or the real stories were edited so heavily that the truth was lost to time. Demons didn’t eat humans. Demons didn’t steal people’s souls, and had no use for souls anyway. Demons couldn’t steal the youth from humans, and honestly they had no need to. Most demons could live for a very long time so they didn’t have to worry about fading youth much. Most stories of youths being spirited away were either made up, and when a person did disappear their disappearance was usually bit more mundane in nature. Either the person ran away on their own, or other humans were to blame. They just blamed demons because they were an easy scapegoat. In the rare cases when a demon was the cause they were usually helping the human escape something out of pity. There were a few stories floating around in the demon world of demons running away with a human because they loved them although those were usually folk tales onto themselves. Demons and humans didn’t usually interact in that way. It just wasn’t done. 

At any rate legends that had a darker tone when told by humans were usually much simpler in reality. The humans who were supposedly killed by raven demons in an abandoned home in the woods were usually only chased out of the raven demon’s home. In the rare cases a human was killed it was almost always in self-defense. Even the powerful and highly respected bijuu tended to not attack humans. They only attacked when the humans were attacking them. 

So all stories of demons killing or eating humans for entertainment were usually false. There were a few bad demons out there who could cause harm, but they were within the same line as bad humans who enjoyed hurting others. With that said there was one series of human stories that actually were true. Any story that consisted of demons pranking or ticking humans were always true. Although, the prank pulling wasn’t done to get revenge. Well, alright it usually wasn’t done to get revenge. Some demons pulled pranks as revenge although usually the revenge was just an excuses more than anything else. They would have pulled the pranks regardless. 

When we get right down to it demons were tricksters. They lived to pull pranks and cause as much mischief as possible. Pulling pranks was practically a part of a demon’s DNA. For as long as demons have existed they have been pulling pranks and tricking people, and humans were their favorite victims. It was just so much fun to pull the wool over their eyes. They got pleasure from humiliating humans who thought they were better than everyone else. They got joy from pulling pranks on humans who acted way too serious all the time. Life was always brighter when a demon was able to force a powerful human to eat a bit of humble pie now and again. 

Demons lived for a laugh. The more elaborate or silly a prank was the better. Causing harmless chaos on the silly humans bought a bit of excitement to a demon’s life. Heck, if you could knock a rude human off of their high horse by tricking them then you were considered a bit of a hero for showing some high and mighty human that they were really not that great. Forcing a bit of humility on a human who thought a bit too highly of themselves was practically their duty in life. From the timidest of rabbit demons to the strongest of bijuu all demons lived to pull pranks on humans. 

Being tricksters was in a demon’s blood. 

Being a prankster was a way of life for all demons. 

Quite frankly mischief making was a part of demon culture. 

So for a group of people that put such importance in causing general chaos for humans it isn’t hard to believe that demons had a ritual involving causing mischief. This ritual was called the Mischief Trial, and it was something that all demons had to go through. When a demon child hit a certain age they had to participate in the Mischief Trial. The demon would choose a human village to go to, and for three years the demon would pull as many pranks as they possibly could. They would trick as many humans as possible, and cause as much (mostly) harmless chaos as they could. They had to do this all while being sure not to be captured, or chased out of town. If they were able to do this and return home they were showered with praise, and considered to be well on their way on becoming a true trickster demon. For demons this was an essential part of growing up. 

It was also the source of all of the stories that humans told of demons pranking and causing mischief in a village for years at a time. 

At any rate some human villages were considered harder to prank then others. Obviously, the harder a village is to succeed in the more glory a demon would get if they were able to complete their ritual there. Villages that consisted of normal humans that knew nothing of chakra much less sealing were considered easy. Ninja and samurai villages were considered much harder. Of course each village had things about them that made them a bit easier or harder to deal with. Each village had their pros and cons that a demon must keep in mind when choosing which village to complete their challenge at. With that said there was one ninja village that almost no demon went to. That village was Konohagakure. 

Once it wasn’t the only ninja village that was avoided. Uzushiogakure used to also be avoided, but that village fell a long time ago. Now Konohagakure was the only village that demons were weary of. The reason for this was a bit complex. A bit of it was due to the fact that there was always a seal master lurking within the walls of the city. Seals made things a bit harder for demons. Some seals were just annoyances that made it easier for humans to trap a demon. Other seals were downright dangerous to demons. A really well made seal could kill or at least seriously injure a demon. The village wasn’t filled to the brim with seal masters like Uzushiogakure was, but the ninjas that they had that did deal with seals always ended up becoming fūinjutsu masters or at least as close to a master as they could get. While Konohagakure wasn’t the only village out there with sealing knowledge they had a lot more knowledge and experience with the subject then most other villages did due to a multitude of reasons. Seals were just things that no demon wanted to deal with if they could avoid it. 

More annoyingly the village had their Military Police Force made up of people of the Uchiha clan. Sharingan could be aggravating to deal with. They could catch a demon when they were setting up a prank easier than most when they had a Sharingan activated. A lot of Uchiha could keep up with the movements of even the speediest of demons with Sharingan. That was only scratching the surface of how annoying Sharingan could be. The Uchiha were not invincible by any means they were just aggravating to deal with. Most of that aggravations came from the fact that a lot of the police force seemed to have a lot of time on their hands. They also seemed to treat pranking like it was a personal insult to them. If a demon pulled a lot of pranks in one spot and stuck around the area too long the police would show up, and then the demon would have to do a lot to avoid them. It was annoying.

Even ignoring the seals and the police force there was always something off about the village. Soon after the Second Hokage’s death demons who went to the village reported seeing strange people in animal masks and wearing black cloaks would start hunting for demons if any demons caused too much mischief in the area. No one knew much about them other than the fact that they didn’t seem to be a part of the normal ANBU that usually patrolled the village. The demons were never caught by these strange people, but it become clear to any demon that tried to cause mischief in the village that they strange people were trying very hard to capture them. The would immediately come out of the woodwork trying their very best to hunt them down. They wouldn’t even limit their search to the inside of the village. If the strange masked people thought a demon was right outside of the village walls they would search there too. Their determination to catch a demon easily defeated the Uchiha police force's determination to catch a few pranksters. 

Demons were tied between being insulted that the humans were trying to capture them, and just a tad bit concerned by how far they were willing to go to try and catch a demon. With the unusually high number of ninjas that were pretty good with seals, the Uchiha police force always having something to prove, and the strange group that was running around in the background many demons took to avoiding the place. It was just too much trouble to deal with. With that being said while the village was avoided demons were not exactly forbidden from trying to take their Mischief Trial there. In a way that made the village a place that all the young demons wanted to conquer. If you could complete the Mischief Trial in that village you would be considered the king of tricksters. You would go down in the demon history books as being the very first to complete their challenge there.

Many young demons who wanted to be declared the best of the best would go to that village during their Mischief Trial. Every single one of them would come back home defeated. They were all chased out in the end, or they go so in over their heads that they had to leave before things got worse for them. With every failure Konohagakure just become more and more of an undesirable place to go to. Eventually, Konohagakure being unbeatable just became an unofficial part of the in the demon hand book. Konohagakure would always be a forbidden fruit to all demons. It would be a place that all demons wished to conquer during their Mischief Trial, but no one ever would ever succeed. It was the one place where the most arrogant of demons ended up humbled, and where the most hopeful demons had their dreams crushed. 

Just how most demons believed that humans could be nothing more than pranking victims it was also believed that beating Konohagakure would only ever be a fool’s errand.

This was how it was. This is how most demons believed it would always be. They thought that nothing would ever change that.

However, this could not be further from the truth. Things would change for Konohagakure and for the demons. A certain team of ninjas in Konohagakure would have their lives flipped upside down, and a few demons were going to have their views on humans drastically changed. Everything was going to change, and these changes would be caused by one demon and his decision to try and achieve the impossible. Things would change all because a nine tailed fox demon named Naruto chose to take his Mischief Trial in the village hidden in the leaves…  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day that everything was set in motion had started out regularly enough. It was a warm sunny afternoon in a normal demon village that was hidden away in the very heart of the biggest forest that the Land of Fire had. Life in the village honestly wasn’t too horribly different from life in a human village. Demons worked, took care of their families, played, and just lived their lives. The demon children who were old enough to go to school were at school learning everything they needed to know in order to survive like math and reading. They also learned how to use illusions and pull pranks without being caught, but if you were to ask a demon about that they would say that those things were essential to living a good life.

In the village’s large school in one of its many classrooms a coyote demon by the name of Iruka Umino was trying to get his rather class full of rather hyper demons to pay attention. The school day was almost over, so his students were more than ready to leave and go home. They always got rather energetic and loud when there was only an hour of school left. It could be a bit frustrating to try and keep them on task when they were like this, but today Iruka was willing to give the kids a bit of slack. There was something else that was making the kids rather energetic today. It was something important, and Iruka couldn’t blame them for being excited about it.

The brown haired teacher paused his thoughts about this special event for the moment in order to clap his hands together loud enough to get his students attention. The one clap was enough to put a stop to the whispered conversations, and to wake up a few of the sleepier students who had been dozing off. 

“Alright class listen up! We still have some very important things to go over before classes end for the day.”

Iruka couldn’t help but smile a bit as he looked over the classroom full of demon children. The coyote demon had been teaching this group of children for ages now starting from when they were young children just old enough to start their education to now when they are young teens getting ready to make their mark on the world. He had been teaching them everything they needed to know to survive in this world. He had also been preparing them for the single most important event in a demon’s life. 

The Mischief Trial.

Iruka had spent years teaching the children everything he knew about pranking. He had shown them every trick that he knew to prepare them for this event. The kids clearly knew what he was about to talk about. He could just see the excitement that was building up in his students. He could see the tails wagging in joy. He could see the bird demons’ wings quivering in excitement. Some of his students were almost vibrating in their seats. Yet, out of everyone in the room it was Naruto the nine tailed fox demon who was the most enthusiastic at the moment. Naruto’s blue eyes were almost glowing with joy as he stared at Iruka. His grin was so large that it could give the two tailed bijuu cat’s infamously large grins a run for his money. His nine fox tails were waving around wildly in excitement. Sheer force of will was probably the only thing keeping him from probably yelling for Iruka to just start talking about the trial already. Iruka smirked a bit at that, but he decided to finally have mercy on the kids and keep talking.

“So you all know that tomorrow is…?” He started to say only to have his students shout out the answer. 

“The Mischief Trial!”

All of the kids were pretty loud when they shouted that, but Naruto was the loudest of them. The only one who almost matched his volume was the dog demon Kiba. Then again Kiba was one of the few who could keep up with Naruto’s energy, so maybe that shouldn’t have been a surprise.

Letting that thought go for the moment Iruka nodded as he said “Correct! Tomorrow we will be holding a small ceremony to set off your trial. Once the ceremony is over you will be traveling to the village that you have chosen.” 

The man smiled at all of them as he said “Now, we have discussed human villages and the pros and cons of going to certain types of villages before. I also told you last month that you should all start thinking about which village you want to complete your trial in.”

A few of the demons nodded and looked confidant. They were probably the ones who already knew which village they were going to. A few of the other kids looked unsure or nervous about the whole thing. They were probably the ones who hadn’t settled on a village yet, were unsure of their choices, or were just nervous about leaving home and going to a human town for the very first time. 

Iruka’s smile softened a bit as he said “If you are a bit unsure of your choice, or still haven’t completely settled on a decision yet that’s alright. When I took the trial I kept changing my mind about which village I wanted to go to. I only finally settled on a choice on the morning of my trial.” 

His smile faded a bit as he said “With that said I want you all to think very hard about your decision tonight. You only have until tomorrow morning to make a choice. If you are having issues making a choice try talking to your parents, friends, older siblings, or other family about where they went for their trial. They might be able to help you make a choice. You can also come to me to talk if you are having difficulty choosing a place. As your teacher I want to see you all succeeded and stay safe during your trials. I would be more than happy to stay after class to help you make a decision.” 

A few of his students relaxed a bit upon hearing that. Iruka was sure that he would have a few students lined up at his desk asking him for help choosing a place once class was over. He didn’t mind that. He wanted his students to get all of the help they possibly could for their trial. 

“Anyway, for the last hour I thought it might be good for those of you who have decided where you want to go to share with the rest of the class. We can discuss the village and talk about the pros and cons of going to those places. Knowing exactly what to expect from these places will help you prepare for your trials. For those of you who are still unsure of where to go maybe hearing where your classmates are going will help you decide if you want to go to the same village as them, or at least go to a village that is similar to theirs.” The teacher shrugged. “Or maybe at the very least it will help you to knock a village off of your list.”

The man shook his head and smiled as he said “Alright, so who wants to share where they are going?” 

Hands immediately went up into the air the second that question was asked. Many of his students were very eager to share where they would be going.

“Amru, you first! Where were you planning to go?”

The fennec fox demon’s over sized fox ears twitched upon hearing her name. She grinned brightly at her teacher as she said “I was planning on going to Sunagakure!”

“That’s an excellent place for a fennec fox demon such as yourself. Fennec foxes are common in that part of the world, so it should be easy for you to hide there in your animal form.” He looked at everyone in the classroom as he said “Remember class it is always a wise idea to choose places where you would best fit in. For example, you wouldn’t see an aquatic type turtle wandering around the desert. So turtle demons wouldn’t want to go there unless you really want to challenge. Well trained ninjas will notice any animal that is out of place very quickly, and they will investigate quickly. Even ignoring the possibility of sticking out the environment can affect you as well. A fennec fox can handle the heat and general environment of a desert while demons who are geared more toward more aquatic environments would suffer greatly in such areas. It wouldn’t kill you, but it would be a miserable time for you in general.” 

The man moved his gaze back onto Amru as he said “Sunagakure also has very few ninja that use seals in any way, and the few that do… aren’t very good at it.”

Iruka heard a small snort of amusement come from Gaara after he said that, but the red haired tanuki demon was quick to cover up his amusement. Iruka couldn’t help but be a bit amused too although he did a better job of keeping it contained. Sunagakure was infamous for trying to capture the one tailed bijuu Shukaku with seals only to fail spectacularly. Sunagakure liked to pretend the event never happened and they refused to speak of it. As for Shukaku he loved to chatter on about their failure and his great victory. Chances are Gaara heard the story from his father a hundred times already. 

The coyote demon quickly shook that thought away and said “Still, you have to be careful while there. Ninjas are not something to take lightly.”

He gave everyone in the room a serious look as he said “Most of the ninja villages are participating in a war right now, so they are going to be on high alert. Be careful about the sort of pranks you pull, and who you pull them on.” 

The serious air that this comment had created was quickly broken when the Kiba yelled out in a confused tone “They are still fighting in that war? I thought the second war ended a long time ago.” 

Iruka could not help but sigh upon hearing that although he had a bit of a hard time blaming Kiba for not staying on top of the news involving that. Human affairs were not exactly considered a demon's problem. If the humans wanted to kill each other over something stupid that was their choice. As long as it didn’t affect them too much most demons didn’t care. Not helping matters was the fact that demons were long lived, and humans seemed to fight a lot of wars. Demons were not immortal by any means, but they were long lived enough that a lot of the human wars sort of blended together for them. At some point it become easier to notice the moments of peace that humans had rather than their constant wars and fighting. 

“The ninja villages are participating in a third war now,” Iruka said. “They have been fighting it for a while now.”

“Oh,” Kiba said slowly. “What are they fighting over this time?” 

A loud snort of distaste could be heard from the red haired fox girl sitting next to Naruto after Kiba asked that question.

“It’s probably over something stupid,” The girl said as she crossed her arms. “Humans are always fighting over silly things.” 

“I’m sure their reasons for this war makes sense to them,” Iruka said. “Also, thank you Karin for volunteering to share your trial destination next.”

A bright blush appeared on the girls face as a few of the students laughed at her sudden misfortune on suddenly being put on the spot. Naruto looked rather smug it although that fact that just caused Iruka to roll his eyes a bit. The two cousins had a thing for trying to one up each other in class. It was mostly a friendly rivalry although sometimes they teased each other a bit too much. Karin let out a small huff of irritation at her cousin’s look, but she quickly shoved her annoyance away in favor of holding her head up high and giving off the look of complete confidence.

“I’m going to the Land of the Moon.”

“The Land of the Moon is very far from here,” Iruka said. “You know that for someone like you the only way there will be by boat. You will have to stay disguised as a human for a long time while on the boat, and you won’t be able to get up to any mischief while on the boat.”

“I know,” Karin said as she nodded. “I can control myself unlike some people.” 

She shot Naruto a smug look of her own to make sure the boy knew that her comment was aimed mostly at him. Naruto frowned a bit at the slight dig at him, but said nothing as Karin continued to speak. 

“Once I get to the Land of the Moon I’ll have a whole city to pull pranks in. There are no ninjas to worry about there, and it’s a heavily populated area so I have a large number of people that I can pull pranks on. The people there are mostly normal people with no fighting experience, or any experience with demons at all. My chances of being caught are low. Due to its distance not too many demons have taken their trial there, so I could really make a name for myself there if I pull of a really big and elaborate prank.” 

“All very good points,” Iruka said with a nod. “Due to its distance few demons try to take on Kingdom of the Moon for their trial. If you pull off a truly remarkable prank there it would really put your name on the map.”

Karin looked happy upon hearing what Iruka said while Naruto just looked vaguely annoyed.

“Big deal,” The blue eyed boy said. “The place I chose will get me in the history books!”

“And where did you chose, Naruto?” Iruka asked. 

He expected the boy to name a ninja village of that he was sure of. Probably not Sunagakure. That place was pretty popular as a pranking target.

 _‘Kirigakure maybe?’_ He thought. _‘Or possibly Kumogakure?’_

Iruka’s guessing came to a screeching halt when Naruto loudly said “I’m going to Konohagakure for my trial!”

The second that Naruto said that was the second that the cheerful energy that had filled the room vanished. Everyone just stared at the blond in shock. Meanwhile, the blond just sat there with a large grin on his face as if he hadn’t just said he planned to go to the one village that most demons avoided if they could help it. 

“Naruto you know what sort of reputation that village has don’t you?” Iruka asked.

“Of course I do Iruka-sensei!” The boy shouted all while still smiling. “That’s why it’s the best choice! If I can make it there, then I’ll be considered a master of pranking.”

_‘Well, that is true,’_ Iruka thought. 

If anyone could complete a trial there they would be considered one of the best simply for being one of the first to complete a trial there. Iruka glanced over at Karin. The girl was staring at her cousin with wide eyes. Apparently she was rather surprised by Naruto’s decision. That seemed to imply that this was the first time Naruto had ever mentioned his decision to go to the leaf village.

_‘Does Kurama-sama even know that Naruto wants to go to the leaf village?’_ Iruka could not help but wonder.

He was pretty sure the answer to that question was no. If the mighty nine tailed fox demon had heard about this the whole village would have heard the bijuu demon blow his top at the very idea of his son going there of all places. 

“Naruto, listen Konohagakure is-“ Iruka started to say only to be cut off by the school bell. 

The second the bell rang the kids sprang out of their seats and started rushing out of the room. Karin had grabbed Naruto and dragged him out of the classroom with Gaara, Kiba, and a few other students following closely behind them. Obviously a few of the kids wanted to see just how much Karin would chew out her cousin for his rather insane plan. Kiba and Gaara were probably going along to make sure Naruto got out of the whole thing relatively unscathed. A few students stayed behind, but they were obviously the kids who wanted to talk to Iruka about where they were going to go to for their Mischief Trial. Iruka mentally sighed. He would help the few students that hung around, but once that was done he was going to have to go and talk to Kurama about his son’s choice for the Mischief Trial. Iruka couldn’t help but mentally winch at that. He really wasn’t looking for the blow up that the little talk would have….

\------------------------------------------

“Konohagakure?! Really?! Of all the places you could chose you chose Konohagakure?!” 

Naruto couldn’t help but winch a bit at his cousin’s screeching. When Karin grabbed him and dragged him out to the school playground he knew that he was probably going to get a talking to, but he didn’t expect her to be this frantic. She was pacing back and forth in front of him like a caged animal that was only a few seconds away from snapping. 

“You want to screech that a little louder?” Kiba grumbled. “I think the whole village can hear you screeching.”

The girl shot the dog demon a hard glare as she said “Why are you so relaxed about this? You know all the stories about Konohagakure.”

“I know the stories,” Kiba said. “But I sort of get why Naruto wants to go. No one has completed trial there. If a demon could make it there they would instantly be known as the best of the best. All anyone has to do to win tons of praise and glory is to successfully drive that one village absolutely insane with pranks.” 

The dog demon kicked a stay rock away from him as he said “Heck, sometimes I have thought about going to Konohagakure. If I could make it there I would really prove to anyone who doubted me that I have what it takes to be a great demon.”

“You should come with me then!” Naruto said enthusiastically. “I bet we could work together to make some really elaborate pranks that would drive Konoha up the wall!”

Kiba actually looked interested in that idea while Karin just groaned in frustration. 

"Don't drag him into your insane plan," She grumbled out.

Naruto ignored his cousin in order to look at Gaara. 

“What about you? Where are you going?”

“I was thinking I would go to Suna like my brother and sister did,” Gaara said.

“Oh, come on! Everyone in your family goes to Suna for their Mischief Trial!” Don’t you want to break the mold? Don’t you want to really make the trial your own?” Naruto asked. 

Gaara said nothing to that although he did look rather thoughtful now. Karin just sighed while the other kids who were gathered around them looked more and more worried. 

A gray haired cat demon named Sora finally decided to chime into the conversation. "Naruto, you don't want to go to the Leaf Village. No demon has been able to complete the trial there." 

Naruto only smirked at that as he crossed his arms. "Exactly! That's part of the reason why I am going there. If I can pull it off I'll go down in history as the greatest demon who ever lived!" 

Karin snorted upon hearing that. Naruto just shot his cousin a week glare as she rolled her eyes at him.

Her fox tails waved around in annoyance as she said "You aren't the first one to say that Naruto. You know how many demons have said that only to come back with their tail between their legs having failed completely? It's a lot."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something to that only to quickly snap his mouth shut when he heard Sora murmur "Assuming they come back at all."

Everyone turned to look at the gray haired cat demon in confusion upon hearing that. "What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

The boy’s cat ears flatten against his head in discomfort as he asked "You guys ever hear of a kid named Rock Lee? He was in the class above us."

"Oh!" Kiba called out in realization. "I remember him! He was the raven demon with the really thick eyebrows. I remember him going on about how he would be the first to complete a trial in the Leaf Village during last year's ceremony." 

"Yeah, he did say that and he followed up on it too." Sora said in a low tone of voice. "He went right to the Leaf Village and he never came back.”

“Huh,” Naruto said slowly. “I don’t remember that.”

“Probably because you were sick with the flu during the day of the Mischief Trial last year,” Karin said. “If I remember right he was an orphan, and he didn’t have a lot of friends. If he disappeared not a lot of people would kick up a fuss about it.” 

"I remember him," Gaara said softly. "My sister was in the same class as him. She said he always had trouble creating illusions to the point that a lot of people didn’t think he would ever be a great demon. I guess he went to Konoha to prove that they were wrong about him. My sister said a few people in their class were saying he died in Konoha.” 

A chill went down everyone's spine upon hearing that. 

Gaara didn't help the mood when he said "My sister said they probably captured him and drained his blood to use in seals. They say Konoha has been trying to master the sealing art ever since Uzushiogakure was destroyed. Maybe they think seals made with the blood of a demon would somehow be stronger?"

Gaara’s comment seemed to have opened up the floodgates of rumors. Suddenly, all of the demons that were gathered around to hear Karin chew Naruto out were chiming in with their own version of what happened to Rock Lee.

“You ever hear those rumors of how Uzushiogakure knew a seal that could seal demons away?” A rabbit demon boy with large brown eyes asked. “I hear they shared that seal with Konoha. My brother says that any demon that Konoha catches gets sealed away into containers made just to contain demons. I bet he was sealed away into like an urn or something like that.”

“There is no way that Konoha has a seal that can permanently seal away a demon like that!” A raccoon demon girl said. “They probably just captured him and locked him away in some deep dark dungeon where he will never see the light of day again.”

“You really think a bunch of humans are going to just lock away a demon and forget about them?” A crow demon girl asked. “There is no way that they would do that. Humans are always trying to figure out how demons work. I bet they dissected him to see what makes him tick.”

A hare demon boy just rolled his eye upon hearing that.

“I bet they ate his heart to try and get his demon powers or something equally twisted like that,” The hare demon said. 

“That’s a bit much isn’t it?” Gaara said. “I don’t think humans would do something that morbid.”

“Says the guy who said that the humans could have drained him of his blood to use in seals,” The hare demon said as he let out a small huff of disbelief. “They are humans. Who knows what they would do for power? They do bad stuff to each other all the time don’t they?”

No one really had an answer to that. With all the wars and fighting that humans did it was sort of hard to not wonder what went through human’s mind sometimes.

Naruto broke the silence by saying “Alright, does anyone know if any of those stories are actually true? I never heard of humans trying to use demon blood for anything, and I sure haven't heard of any humans trying to eat demons for their powers or whatever. Those are probably just rumors that people made up.” 

Naruto looked at all of the demons that were gathered around him as he asked “Who’s to say that this Lee kid didn’t just end up running away from the village and refused to come home because he didn’t want to be seen as a failure?”

No one had any argument against that. Like it or not the rumors that they heard were just that. Nothing but rumors. No one really knew what went on in Konoha, and no one really knew what happened to Rock Lee. Maybe he was dead. Maybe he was perfectly fine. No one knew. 

Karin gave him a worried look as she said “Maybe the rumors are overblown, but that doesn’t mean that Konoha isn’t dangerous. Seals are no joke, and the fact that so demons have come back from Konoha as failures means that something is wrong about that place.”

“All ninja villages are dangerous,” Naruto argued. “Ninjas are the only ones who have a chance against demons. Going to any ninja village means accepting the fact that you will be putting yourself at risk by going against them. So what if Konoha has a scary reputation? All ninja villages can be scary in their own way.”

The blond looked around at the demons gathered around him as he said “I’m not going to let a bunch of rumors scare me, and I’m not going to let other demon’s failures get to me! I’m going to do what everyone else failed to do! I’m going to conquer Konohagakure! I’m going to give everyone in the demon world a reason to respect me!”

A few of the demons looked at Naruto with just a bit of admiration for his bravery. A few others stared at him like he was nothing more than a brave fool. Kiba was looking rather thoughtful while Gaara’s expression was rather unreadable. Karin just looked at him with a worried, but defeated look on her face.

“There is no talking you out of this is there?” She said softly. 

“Nope,” Naruto said as he crossed his arms. “I made my choice, and I am sticking to it.” 

“Have you at least told Uncle Kurama your plan yet?” Karin asked. 

All Naruto’s bravado seemed to fade away after she asked that.

“W-well not exactly,” The boy stammered out. 

“You haven’t told him?!” Karin shouted in surprise. “Are you planning on him finding out about it during the Mischief Trial opening ceremony?!”

“Please don’t tell Dad,” The boy begged.

“You don’t have to worry about me telling him,” The red haired girl said as she stared at her cousin. “In case you forgot you shouted your plan to go to Konoha in class today. You really think Iruka-sensei isn’t going to say something to your dad about it?”

The boy turned a little pale at that thought.

“You think it’s too late to go back into the school and stop Iruka before he says anything?” Naruto asked.

He ended up getting his answer to that question pretty quick. As soon as the words left his mouth a thundering roar could be heard throughout the village. It was the roar of a very annoyed and angry nine tailed bijuu demon.

 **“Naruto!”** A voice called out loudly enough for every single demon in the village to hear. **“You better get home right now! We need to talk!”**

The demons gathered around Naruto instantly started teasing him upon hearing that. 

“Oh, you are so in trouble!”

“Your dad just used the angry bijuu voice. You know it’s serious.” 

“I don’t think I ever heard Kurama-sama sound so mad.”

“It was nice knowing you Naruto.” 

Naruto wasn’t really paying much attention to everyone’s teasing. He was too busy standing there looking like he was watching his life flash before his eyes. Karin gave him a week nervous grin as she said the one thing Naruto really didn’t want to hear. 

“For your sake I hope you have a good argument for your dad because if you can’t convince him to let you go to the Leaf Village the only place that you will be going is to the nearest civilian village.” 

Naruto gulped a bit in nervousness upon hearing that. Forget the challenge that Konoha could give him. The real trial here would be convincing his father to let him go to the village hidden in the leaves…

**Author's Note:**

> So this story of mine is very heavily inspired by a PS2 game called "Under the Skin".
> 
> In the game you play as an alien from Planet Mischief, where there is a tradition that once someone turns a certain age, he or she must travel to a planet and learn how to perform "Mischief" and cause panic on that planet. In the game Earth was considered the greatest challenge due to a lot of reasons. Anyone who could cause enough mischief on Earth and make it home alive pretty much won the title of hero.
> 
> Thinking of the game, and then thinking about how many pranks Naruto used to pull as a kid I sort of thought "You know with some adjustment that concept could fit pretty well with the Naruto world."
> 
> And that thought led to this story.
> 
> A big thanks to Arrveolantrath for listening to me babble on about my story idea. You really helped me come up with some great ideas for this fic.


End file.
